Mountainous Goals

Just outside of Tucson you can find the Catalina Mountain Range.  The highest point is about 8,000 feet.  A group of 4 MRH staff members (including myself) and two students  awakened at 4:45 AM to attempt to  hike up the mountain as far as we could.  We were unaware that the Sierra Club rated this an "A Trail."  This is the rating they hold for the most difficult hiking trails.  We trudged up this rocky trail for 2 hours going up to about 5,500 feet.  We had a great view of the Tucson Valley below.  Dripping with sweat, tired, and picking thorns from the thousands of cactus along the way out of our clothes, we drank in the view and headed down.

All of us found the trek down much more challenging.  What a great lesson to learn.  Going up, we all had our mind focused on the summit and it motivated us.  Going down, we had no focal point.  This lack of a goal seemed to make our downward climb less invigorating.  We also got sloppy and had more slight falls, slips, and bumps.

I guess that's what happens when we take our eyes off the goal.

Judging and Grading

"Every judgement ends up being a self-judgement in some way."  I heard a presenter say this at a conference in Chicago this past weekend.  We were discussing the ethics of grading in schools and the idea that standards based grading was a more ethical way to go about it.  Separating behavior, timeliness, and teacher subjectivities from what kids actual know is not always so simple.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be seen as a judge for anybody.  God forbid anyone look at me in that same judgmental way.

Our grades really should not be seen as judgements should they?  Too many times they are because they seem so random and subjective.  Why did homework count for this amount?  How come we only had one test worth any points?  Why did I get a zero when I handed in the paper a day late?  Can I redo that test because I know I can do better?

When you let students know what their learning goals are and track their mastery of that goal, aren't we giving a more accurate description of what they actually know?

I think it's time we start to investigate the legitimacy of standards based grading.

Energy Givers and Takers

There are many ways we can categorize people, (and I abhor categories for people), but I must say this one caught my attention.  This speaker, who ran a very successful organization, stated that the basis of their success was the fact that he had 100% buy-in from staff that everyone would do their best to be an "energy giver" at this organization.  This did not mean that people did not have their bad days.  No, but it did mean that everyone was conscientious of the fact that their attitudes and feelings can alter the daily atmosphere and success of the organization.  And, in the end, if the results were not so satisfactory, people would still have the good fortune of working in a supportive and positive work environment.  "The funny thing is," said the speaker, "that every organization, team, family etc.. that has this buy in to being 'energy givers' seems to find success." After all, when there are no "energy takers" to poison our cultures and climates with their toxic attitudes and behaviors, we liberate our organizations and take the restraints off that were holding us back.

Are we "energy givers" or "energy takers?"